The week of April 11 to 14, 2024 was not what I expected Jon Rahm in (poor) defense of his brilliant victory a year ago at August Masters. In just 15 rounds of competition in five 54-hole tournaments this year, the Basque put himself in National Augusta to at least try to become just the fourth player in history to double the winning streak.
But the painful truth for him world no. 3, who did not taste success for a year, yes yes, a year, which was said as soon as possible, when in 2023 he did it four times in three months, this is the last card of 76 strokes for 297 in total, and a disappointing one. 46th place , representing his worst finish in the first Grand Slam on the calendar. He tied for 27th in 2017, the year of his debut and in which Sergio García won, and 2022 (Scottie Scheffler), and the rest, five finishes in the top ten.
For the fourth day in a row, Barrika failed to produce that moment of inspiration/reaction that would have boosted his confidence level with pegged restorative birdies. ‘Breaks’ that catapulted him into the top 10, a lesser evil without a doubt. The opposite happened on Sunday, with a birdie on the first hole, a dry hole on the 2nd with a bogey, a birdie on the 3rd and a great birdie on the 7th, holding his approach straight from the middle of the fairway.
There it looked like Rahm would take a step forward in the tournament, but on the 8th he came back to reality with a bogey-6 (three putts). And the misfortunes did not end for the double major winner: incomprehensible double bogey-6 on the 10th, bogey on the 11th and pars on two par 5s of the second round while on the 14th hole, where on last year he hit the lunge, he hit a great shot like in 2023 but this time he didn’t make the putt. That’s very difficult. If it is always difficult to defend a title, that of a ‘good’ one, even more so.
There is one great fact that explains Jon’s poor performance at this Masters. And he covered the par 5s in par!: all pars and a bogey on 2, all pars on 8 and 13, and three pars and a single birdie on 15. So it’s hard to give yourself a chance to be among the first Masters places. A lot.
The height of Jon’s misfortune came on the 16th hole, the final par 3. Rahm ate the flag and the ball landed in the pond to the left. Third shot on the green but short of the hole and double bogey-5 on the side. At that moment the Biscayan dropped to +9 in total, tied with a Txema Olazábal against him you have to discover yourself: he signed the par 72 this Sunday, his best result of the week, and that in the last hole he hit the ball with a slight handicap in the body of a pinch in the back.
Jon ended his participation with pairs at 17 and 18. He will have time to evaluate a performance that is below his class and talent. And on top of that, he couldn’t sign the card, go to the mixed zone and go home because he had to wait over two and a half hours for the leaders to finish and dress the new champion.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
